Safety ski-binding



June 15, 1965 P. WEBERLING 3,189,362

SAFETY SKI-BINDING Filed June 13, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l li 8 "IL June 15, 1965 P. WEBERLING 3,189,362

SAFETY SKI-BINDING Filed June 13, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fix 54 57 1 58 United States Pat B,lh,3h2 Patented June l5, i965 3,18,3d2 SAFETY SKH-BINDWG Paul Weberling, Munich, Germany E. Adam, Dandlerstrasse 1t), Munich-@hermensing, Germany) Filed June 13, 1%3, Ser. No. 287,650 12 (Slairns. (El. filth-11.35)

My invention relates to improvements in ski-bindings, in particular so-called safety bindings. My improved safety ski-binding essentially comprises two lug iron as semblies or units adapted to grip the shoe sole, one of which is disposed at the toe and the other at the heel of the skiers boot.

Known safety ski-bindings generally are rather complicated structures, diilicult of adjustment, susceptible to trouble in the case of icing, and as a rule do not afford sulficient safety against twist plunges or rotary tumbles or against forward falls. In particular the problem or task of providing sufiicient safety in the case of forward falls could not be satisfactorily solved so far.

My present invention therefore starts from the task of obviating the disadvantages of known safety ski-bindings and to make available to the skiers a simple binding that affords sufiicient safety against twist and forward plunges.

I solve said task in accordance with the invention by pressing the toe lug iron, when the binding is closed, by means of a spring against the shoe sole. To open the binding, said iron is drawn forwardly by means of a lever. The heel lug iron by means of an elongated hole is mounted forwardly slidable and upwardly swingable on a crosspin traversing said hole. When the binding is closed, the heel lug iron is restrained from turning further by means of a stop situated behind said hole and crosspin, and by disposing said hole or said stop at such an angle to the horizontal that the torque exerted on the heel in a forward tumble gives origin to a forwardly directed component of force that shoves the heel lug iron against the pressure of a spring in the toe lug iron unit away from said stop and permits said iron to swivel upwardly while releasing the skiers boot. Further in accordance with the invention, the toe lug iron for the purpose of affording safety against twist plunges is provided with rollers that abut against the toe portion of the shoe sole, said rollers being mounted vertically in recesses of the toe lug iron and being fluted.

One form of my invention and a detail variant thereof are shown in the drawings, in whicl'- FIG. 1 shows in top plan a toe lug iron of the ski-binding in closed condition,

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the toe lug iron in the open condition,

FIGS. 1a and 2a show a detail modification of the toe lug iron in top plan view and median longitudinal section,

FIG. 3 depicts a cross-section through the toe lug iron on the line 111 ill of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a top plan of the heel lug iron assembly, in closed condition, associated with the toe lug iron assemy,

FIG. 5 shows the latter in longitudinal section on the line V-V of PEG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a cross-section through the heel lug iron unit on the line Vl-Vl of FIG. 4-.

As seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the toe lug iron unit 1 comprises a top plate 2 that projects roofiike beyond the front edge of the shoe sole, the skiers boot being located on the left of unit l in FIGS. 1 and 2. To fit or adjust unit 1 to the thickness or height of the shoe sole, the unit is secured, to be adjustable in height by means of a serrated portion 3 and a screw 4, to the end-plate 5 of a bolt member 6. On both sides of unit 1 fluted rollers 3 are rotatably mounted between top plate 2 and a bottom plate '7 in a recess between the plates. These rollers 8 abut against the front end-face of the sole, which latter may be provided with two shallow notches fitted to the rollers, and in a twist plunge inane possible a lateral disengagement of the sole from unit It. Experience has shown that this simple arrangement afi'ords fully sufficient safety in the case of twist plunges, all the more so as the torque at which the boot is to be released, is adjustable as desired by varying the spring pressure of front unit l in a manner to be described later.

In FIGS. la and 2a are shown other means for adjusting unit 1 to fit the height of the top edge of the boot sole. Unit ll through a vertical throughgoing bolt $3 is connected to bolt 6 which projects through a rear opening of the unit. Bolt 63 is rotatably mounted on unit I. and is mounted on bolt 6 by means of threads so that the unit may be adjusted in height by turning bolt ed with the aid of a screw driver. Bolt 6 has some lateral play in said opening of unit 1 whereby the latter may slightly move about bolt 63 to either side from its mean position. This affords the advantage that the rollers 8 under uniform pressure accurately fit the boot sole. With the binding closed, the boot however is positively gripped and located in unit 1, as the spring pressure prevents any slight angular movement of the unit. Only when, in the case of twist plunges, a force arises and acts on the boot, will unit 1 yield forwardly, and the rollers 8 let the boot move laterally out of the unit.

Bolt 6 that holds unit It is of square cross-section and is movably introduced through a square opening in the end-wall 9 of a box-like fitting all which comprises sidewalls ll and l2. B'jil: 6 has a threaded bore 13 on its end opposite to unit ll, into which is screwed a round bolt 14 of which the front end portion is provided with threads, and a nut l5 notched on the outside is screwed on to said threaded portion. A washer la is situated between nut 15 and square bolt 6. Round bolt i l on its other end is mounted on a crosspin l? by means of a slot 2'7 closed by a splint 23, said crosspin being movably guided in slots 18 in the sidewalls ll, 12 of fitting lit. The bearing arrangement of bolt 6 in the square hole of endwall 9 and of crosspin It"! in the slots 33 alfords a definite sliding arrangement for unit 1 and allows the latter to reciprocate horizontally.

laterally to bolt l -l are pivoted two arms l? on crosspin 17, and on the latter are rotatably mounted two rollers 28 between the arms ll and the sidewalls ll, 12 of fitting 1h. The other ends of the arms 1% are pivoted at H to projecting gussets 22 of a lever 24 which itself at 23 is pivoted to the sidewalls ll, 12 of fitting lit. Lever 2d at its free end i widened wing-like at 3% to rest on shoulders fill of the sidewalls llll, when in the closed position. A spring plate 25 abutting against the rollers 2i? is seated on round bolt 14, and a helical spring 23 is loosely mounted on the latter between plate 25 and notched nut 15, which spring resiliently presses unit 1 against the boot sole in the closed position of the binding.

When open, unit 1 through raised lever 24- is drawn forwardly so far that the skier may conveniently set his boot between front unit l and rear unit lli. To close the binding, lever 24 is depressed, whereby unit 1 via arms 19, crosspin l7, rollers Ztl, spring plate 25, spring 26, nut 15 and bolt 14 of unit 1 is shoved rearwardly until it abuts against the shoe sole. In this position, nut 15 still has some slight play with respect to endwall 9 of fitting lib. When further depressing lever 24, spring 26 is compressed so that the boot is pressed against the fixedly located rear unit ll) with a certain pro-load of spring 26. Such pre-load of spring 26 may be so ad justed by means of notched nut 15 that the boot will be released or disengaged from the binding in the case of a light twist plunge or, on the other hand, only in a grave or severe twist plunge. The skier thus may choose the measure or degree of safety against twist plunges according to his personal experience and wishes.

The arms I? are so pivoted at 21 to the gussets 22 o lever 2 that the joint 21 will cross the line that connect crosspin 17 and joint 23 shortly before lever abut against the shoulders 3-1, so that the compressed spring 26 slackens somewhat when joint Ell crosses said line. Lever 24- thereby snaps into its lower terminal position and is hold there. When raising lever 24, spring lever 2% spring up by itself after crossing said line 1. reverse direction.

The boxlike fitting it} that accommodates bolt and spring 26, is mounted on base plates 29, if required by means of transverse serrations, and is longitudinally adjustable. The base plates are provided with b r s 32 for securing the plates to the ski top side with the c .d of screws. Straps 34 are clamped by screws to sections of the plates 29 which laterally project beyond fitting it and are engaged in longitudinal grooves 355 (FIG. 3) on the lower portions of walls 11, 1?; to adjustably grip and locate fitting In).

As shown in Flt-GS. 4 and 5, heel unit 40 c a roof-like projecting top plate 41 which abuts a, upper edge of the boot heel. On the top of plate i provided a lug 42 to receive a catch strap (not shown) which serves for securing the ski that in a fall of the skier has become detached from the boot, still secured to the latter lest the ski run down the slope. Unit has a lower portion 43 that is relatively narrow and comprises two parallel sides and is of substantially semi-circular form in longitudinal direction, as shown in FIG. 5. With this lower portion 43, unit is inserted between two side members 44 which in turn are inserted between two guide members as which are parts of a base plate 55 and project at right angles therefrom. The side bers 44 are secured by screws to the base plate, which screws engage threads provided in the side members so that the latter are adjustable in elevation, such adjustment being possible from the underside or from the top of the side members. In this manner, unit l-ti may be fitted to the elevation of the top edge of the boot sole. The lower section 43 of unit do has a round recess into which is fitted a bush 47. In the latter is provided an elongated hole 48 which extends from the center obliquely to the rear and is traversed by a pin 49 which in turn is detachably mounted in the side members 44 Bush 47 in the upper portion is provided with two longitudinally opposite recesses in which are engaged two set screws 61, 62 that are screwed in the lower section of unit By slackening set screw 61, bush 4-7 may be turned in one or the other direction to adjusted the inclination of hole 48, to which end set screw is recessed.

Unit dtl further is provided with a rear abutment face portion 51 adapted to be seated on the top of a stop 52 when the binding is in the closed condition. Stop 52 again is adjust-able in elevation with the aid of a set screw 53 that is actuable either from the top or botto As may be seen in FIGS. 4 to 6, base plate of unit ill thru serrations ti t is engaged to a base plate secured to the ski. On the front side of the lower base plate 54 p and on both sides thereof are mounted two singularly movable auxiliary lug irons 55 against which the boot sole abuts rearwardly and which automatically fit the shape of the rear portion or the boot sole, which is rounded more or less in accordance with the boot size. The two base plates 4S, 5dare secured to the ski by four screws passing through bores 56 in top plate and through slots 5? in bottom plate When. these screws are slackened, bottom plate 54 may be moved relatively to top plate 45 to longitudinally adjust the lug irons 5'5 with respect to unit 4b with a view of accurately fitting said irons 55 and unit 443 to the heel shape. Obvious-y top plate 45 also may be provided with slots so to be movable lengthwise of the ski when being fixed thereto.

As may be seen from FIG. 6, a rubber nipple 53 is insorted on one of the two side members 44- to prevent unit 49 from wobbling when the binding is open.

The mode of operation of the safety ski-binding disclosed above, in the case of a forward plunge is the following.

Heel unit id via the skiers boot is subjected to the pressure or" the spring-loaded toe unit 1 and'is arranged unyielding to the rear. When the skier falls forwardly, the heel unit is subjected to a pronounced clockwise turnin moment, with reference to FIGURE 5 has by the boot, which moment at the point of bearing of hole gives origin to an upward force that engages unit 40. Said force owing to the inclination of hole 28 is divided in a force normal to hole 43 and a force in direction of the latte.-. Such second force component is forwardly directed moves unit forwardly which through its abutment bears on stop 52 while compressing spring of tee unit I. until unit looses its support on step 52. Unit 49 with its front portion then turns upwardly releases the shoe from the binding. T he size of the force moving unit id forwar y depends on the adjustable inclination of bore in the case of a greater incline.- tion, the boot becomes detached more easily than at lesse inclination. By adjusting bush 47 by means of the set screws 61 and es, the skier can set the measure and degree or" safety in forward plunges according to his personal wishes and experience. The slight displacement of unit in the case of forward plunges is made possible by the 1" ct that slot 27 in bolt permits a sufiicient displacement of bolt 14 toward crosspin T7 that is fixed in the closed position of unit 1. This faculty of slight forward displacement also is necessary for twist plunges or tumbles.

Instead of setting bore obliquely, abutment face of unit 4t? and/ or the bearing face of stop 52 may be oppositely beveled, but the adjustability of the inclination is more ditficult to solve in such case.

The solution disclosed by the present invention of the safety problem in the case of forward plunges has the advantages that the force required for releasing the boot is aided by the impulse exerted on the toe lug iron unit and the spring thereof owing to the sudden delay of the skiers speed. This impulse may be sufiicient per se to disengage the shoe from the binding in the case of a forward tumble, so that the toe lug iron assembly disclosed by my present invention offers a certain security against forward tumbles even when using a fixed heel lug iron assembly.

The construction of the toe unit according to the invention and comprising vertically mounted fluted sliding rollers for providing safety in twist plunges, may be used to advantage also in other ski-bindings. On the other hand, the safety ski-binding disclosed herein is not limiteo to the use of said sliding rollers, but the toe unit also may be formed, in a manner known per so, as safety lug iron against twist plunges. The improvement offered by the binding disclosed above consists in the combination with the safety against forward plunges, also using a safety toe lug iron assembly kn wn per se.

it claim:

l. in a safety ski-binding comprising a toe lug iron unit and a heel lug iron unit, said units being adapted to grip the sole toe portion and the sole heel portion respectively of the skiers boot, the improvement comprising a spring for biasing the toe unit against the boot sole in the closed binding, a lever for drawing the toe unit forwardly against the bias of said spring for opening the binding, link means connecting said spring and said lever, said heel lug iron unit comprising a base plate, a pair or" upwardly extending side members fixedly secured to said plate, a crosspin mounted transversely in said side members, said heel lug unit further comprising a displaceable member having a crossbore, a bush received in said crossbore, said bush having a radial bore to receive said crosspin slidable therein, the heel lus i on being mounted on said crosspin to be forwardly slidable and upwardly swivelable, said displaceable member having a rearwardly extending abutment face portion, a stop mounted on said base plate in abutment with said face portion, the heel lug iron in the closed binding being prevented from swiveling by said abutment face portion and said stop, whereby the torque exerted on the heel lug iron unit in the case of a forward plunge of the skier gives origin to a forward component of force which moves the heel lug iron away from said stop against the pressure of the spring in the toe lug iron unit and permits same to swivel upwardly while releasing the boot from the binding.

2. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 1 in which the toe lug iron unit as safeguard against twist plunges comprises a pair of fluted rollers abutting against the toe portion of the boot sole, said rollers being mounted vertically in recesses of the toe lug iron.

3. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 1 in which the toe lug iron is a cantilever secured to a square bolt that is mounted longitudinally movable in the endwall of a fitting, the toe lug iron being extended by a round bolt which carries said spring and of which the end by means of a crosspin is mounted in slots of side members of said fitting, and in which the crosspin via two arms comprising said link means is articulated to a projecting gusset of said lever that closes and opens the toe lug iron and that is pivoted to said fitting side members.

4. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 3 in which the round bolt of the toe lug iron unit with the aid of a slot is mounted on the crosspin to yield forwardly when the toe lug iron is closed, and the crosspin via two rollers mounted thereon is operatively connected to a spring plate.

5. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 3 in which the pre-load on the spring is adjustable, when the toe lug iron is open, by turning a notched nut screwed on the round bolt.

6. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 3 in which the toe lug iron is secured, adjustable in elevation with the aid of a screw, by means of a crosswise threaded endface to a correspondingly threaded endplate of the square bolt.

7. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 3 in which the toe lug iron is secured, adjustable in elevation, to the square bolt by means of a threaded vertical bolt passing through said iron and provided with threads, said square bolt being threaded and projecting through a opening of said iron.

8. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 3 in which the fitting that bearing the toe lug iron is adjustably secured to a base plate by means of screws and resilient straps engaged in longitudinal grooves on the outside of the fitting side-members, said base plate being fixed to the ski.

9. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 1, said bush being turnable for the purpose of adjusting said radial bore by means of opposite set screws screwed in to said iron and engaged in peripheral recesses of the bush.

10. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 1 in which the heel lug iron has a lower section with parallel side faces and is disposed transverse between two side members in which the crosspin bearing the lug iron is detachably mounted and which are longitudinally fitted between two side members of a base plate and connected thereto adjustable in elevation by means of set screws.

11. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 10 in which the stop for the abutment face of the heel lug iron is transversely fitted between the side members of the base plate and is connected adjustable in elevation to the base plate by means of a set screw.

12. A safety ski-binding as set out in claim 1 in which an upper base plate carrying the heel lug iron bears on and is engaged to a lower base plate through cross-serrations, two auxiliary heel lug irons being mounted vertical on both sides of the lower base plate to abut against the boot heel, said auxiliary irons being adjustable to fit the heel shape by shifting the lower base plate with respect to the upper one, said two base plates being jointly secured to the ski by screws.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,513,926 7/50 Erwin 28011.35

2,950,119 8/60 Gembruch 28011.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,032,054 3/53 France.

1,076,254 4/54 France.

1,206,878 8/59 France.

A. HARRYLEVY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A SAFETY SKI-BINDING COMPRISING A TOE LUG IRON UNIT AND A HEEL LUG IRON UNIT, SAID UNITS BEING ADAPTED TO GRIP THE SOLE TOE PORTION AND THE SOLE HEEL PORTION RESPECTIVELY OF THE SKIER''S BOOT, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A SPRING FOR BIASING THE TOE UNIT AGAINST THE BOOT SHOE IN THE CLOSED BINDING, A LEVER FOR DRAWING THE TOE UNIT FORWARDLY AGAINST THE BIAS OF SAID SPRING FOR OPENING THE BINDING, LINK MEANS CONNECTING SAID SPRING AND SAID LEVER, SAID HEEL LUG IRON UNIT COMPRISING A BASE PLATE, A PAIR OF UPWARDLY EXTENDING SIDE MEMBERS FIXEDLY SECURED TO SAID PLATE, A CROSSPIN MOUNTED TRANSVERSELY IN SAID SIDE MEMBERS, SAID HEEL LUG UNIT FURTHER COMPRISING A DISPLACEABLE MEMBER AND HAVING A CROSSBORE, A BUSH RECEIVED IN SAID CROSSBORE, SAID BUSH HAVING A RADIAL BORE TO RECEIVE SAID CROSSPIN SLIDABLE THEREIN, THE HEEL LUG IRON BEING MOUNTED ON SAID CROSSPIN TO BE FORWARDLY SLIDABLE AND UPWARDLY SWIVELABLE, SAID DISPLACEABLE MEMBER HAVING A REARWARDLY EXTENDING ABUTMENT FACE PORTION, A STOP MOUNTED ON SAID BASE PLATE IN ABUTMENT WITH SAID FACE PORTION, THE HEEL LUG IRON IN THE CLOSED BINDING BEING PREVENTED FROM SWIVELING BY SAID ABUTMENT FACE PORTION AND SAID STOP, WHEREBY THE TORQUE EXERTED ON THE HEEL LUG IRON UNIT IN THE CASE OF A FORWARD PLUNGE OF THE SKIER GIVES ORIGIN TO A FORWARD COMPONENT OF FORCE WHICH MOVES THE HEEL LUG IRON AWAY FROM SAID STOP AGAINST THE PRESSURE OF THE SPRING IN THE TOE LUG IRON UNIT AND PERMITS SAME TO SWIVEL UPWARDLY WHILE RELEASING THE BOOT FROM THE BINDING. 